Gong Mujiu turned his gaze to Zhao Dagui, Zhao Dagui was sitting in the hall at this time, and wanted to sit and reply when he saw this, but he didn't expect that next to him was the shopkeeper Lu of the Li family's teahouse, and he quietly stepped on his instep when he saw this.

Zhao Dagui was startled, stood up in pain, and understood that it was very inappropriate for him to sit and reply to Gong Mujiu's words just now.

This Demon Capital Daotai, how to say it, is also a position above the mayor of a prefecture-level city, if it is in modern society, it is a town mayor to ask, and there is no reason for an ordinary person to sit and answer.

Zhao Dagui only didn't expect this when he arrived in this era not long ago, lacked a sense of substitution, and lacked respect for Qing Dynasty officials.

"Back to the adult's words, the student Zhao Dagui is a child in Sanlipu in this county, but because the harvest has been really bad in recent years, the people in the village can't get by, so he handed a letter to the county yamen and asked for some tax reduction.

As a result, the magistrate was furious, revived the student's fame, and slapped another fifty boards, allowing the student to recuperate for several months before returning from the ghost gate.

After the student recovered from his health, he went to the British Consulate to find an errand and became a comprador in the consulate.

Fortunately, thanks to the outstanding people of my magic capital, and the fairness of doing business with foreigners, the students were able to do this business, and I also asked the Taoist to see it. ”

Zhao Dagui stood up, clasped his hands into fists, and saluted Gong Mujiu.

"So that's the case, I don't know what kind of knowledge this Zhao Shusheng used to govern?" Gong Mujiu nodded and asked.

"The student was enlightened at an early age, and he had studied the Four Books and the Five Classics from his teacher, but unfortunately he was stubborn and talented, and his learning was not very good after being a child, and the progress of the imperial examination was hopeless, so he was more engaged in family farming, and taught the children in the village in his spare time.

Fortunately, when I was young, I went to Temasek with my father to learn English from a Western missionary, so I was able to help merchants from various countries in Thailand and Thailand. ”

"So that's the case, then I'll test the 'Xueer' chapter in your Analects..."Gong Mujiu rose up at that time and taught Zhao Dagui's knowledge, and the result was naturally very sad.

Zhao Dagui is not the original owner, he doesn't know anything about the so-called scriptures and the way of the imperial examination, and he hasn't even studied the requirements of Baguwen.

Fortunately, he has such a big killing weapon as the Library of the Lord God in his hand, and he has traveled here for so long, and he has read the Analects and other four books and five classics, collected in the library, and can recite them according to the rules, but the other starting and transfer, the essence of the scriptures, etc., are all miserable.

What a character Gong Mujiu is, after a while, he tried to find out that this Zhao Dagui is actually a person who does not learn and has no skills, and he doesn't understand anything at all, but his memory seems to be very good, and when he mentions the content of the scriptures, he can still read it word for word.

At this moment, the corners of Gong Mujiu's mouth began to twitch, and even the several officials sitting in the hall also sneered at the corners of their mouths, and their eyes were full of contempt when they looked at Zhao Dagui.

After all, Gong Mujiu thought deeply, so he took the test to teach historical knowledge, fortunately, Zhao Dagui was a little stronger in this regard, and he could say something about some historical events and major events of the dynasty, and he could also tell some novel views, but it was also very different from the historiography that Confucian scholars paid attention to.

Zhao Dagui's library has some of the original texts of "Historical Records" and "Zizhi Tongjian", but they are not complete, and many things are not inferred just by knowing the content, and it is not enough to talk about these things with the Taoist master who has been practicing for a long time.

Gong Mujiu was unwilling, and asked about the so-called Western studies, Zhao Dagui is an expert in this regard, more proficient than the vast majority of Chinese scholars, but he introduced the customs of Europe and the Americas, talked about the systems and economic conditions of various countries, etc., it was Gong Mujiu's turn and many officials to listen to the clouds, mountains and fog, I don't know how true or false Zhao Dagui said.

Seeing this, the officials in the hall immediately had an idea, thinking that this Zhao Dagui was just a boy who did not learn and did not know how to learn, and even if he was not fired, it was impossible for him to be admitted to Xiucai or the like;

Gong Mu has been old for a long time, has been in the officialdom for a long time, and his vision and knowledge are much higher than these ordinary officials, and he faintly feels that this Zhao Dagui does not seem to be so simple, but he can't say why.

In the end, he could only kindly persuade Zhao Dagui to study more in the future, not to waste his studies, and then let him go back and sit down, and then continue to talk with Bafour.

This process, Bafur only understood through a translation of Maihuatuo, but Maihuatuo's own Chinese ability is also limited (twenty years old, only a few years of learning Chinese), understanding is not very clear, Bafur is naturally even more inexplicable, only know that Gong Mujiu is exchanging Chinese and Western knowledge with Zhao Dagui, but he looks at Zhao Dagui highly, and feels that Zhao Dagui can discuss learning with a high-ranking official like Gong Mujiu, and it seems that the foundation is still good.

When Zhao Dagui sat back, Gong Mujiu continued to talk to Bafur about the establishment of a customs agency specifically for foreigners.

The magic capital itself has a river customs, but it has always only been for the natives, whether to set up new institutions after the arrival of Westerners, designate new buildings, and then weigh and value the goods bought and sold by Westerners, this is a very detailed matter.

According to Zhao Dagui's understanding, Modu County originally had Jiangsu Customs, which was located on the Huangpu River outside the east gate of Modu County, which was called Guanqiao at this time;

Then in the 25th year of Daoguang, that is, in 1845, Gong Mujiu set up the "Western Merchant Ship Inspection Office" in Pidgin, and later abolished this institution, directly requisitioned 20 acres of land in the British Concession, set up the famous "Jianghai North Pass", set up a wharf and a simple crane structure, and the merchant ships that came and went here had to weigh the goods as the basis for reporting tariffs.

These things are very cumbersome to talk about, but they have a huge impact on many things in later generations, and Zhao Dagui listens to them with relish and feels like he is in history.

After everything was settled, Gong Mujiu sat down on the back of the chair with satisfaction, and picked up the teacup on the coffee table next to him.

Zhao Dagui breathed a sigh of relief in the hall, feeling that he had really gained a lot of knowledge this time, and felt that he had just said a lot of words, and his mouth was dry, and when he saw that there was also a teacup on the coffee table between himself and Captain Kellett, he picked it up and drank it with a bang.

When he finished drinking the tea, put it back on the coffee table, burped, wiped his mouth, and looked around, Zhao Dagui found that the atmosphere in this hall was not right, and suddenly became extremely quiet, no one spoke, and from Gong Mujiu, Bafur to the officials and shopkeepers in the hall, they all looked at themselves with strange eyes, as if they had seen something incredible.

What is there on his face, Zhao Dagui was stunned for a moment, reflexively wiped his face with his hand, and then suddenly reacted that he was out of the picture.

"Is this tea the one that is served to the guests, and you are usually not allowed to drink it?" Zhao Dagui had the feeling of wanting to hit the wall, so he quickly put down the teacup and asked the person next to him.

Zhao Dagui knows more or less the customs of this era, when it comes to the host's house to talk about things, the tea served is not for drinking, just for show; and after the conversation, the host picks up the tea, which means serving tea to the guest, and the guest should get up and say goodbye.

Small households are actually not so particular, but the larger the households, as well as the officials who are officials, the more they pay attention to this kind of rules.

Gong Mujiu leaned back in the chair just now and picked up the tea, in fact, he said that today's talks were over, and Bafur took the initiative to get up and say goodbye, and Zhao Dagui didn't know anything so he picked up the teacup and drank it.

Zhao Dagui is not completely unaware of this rule, but after all, he is not a person of this era, and he just didn't think of this stubble for a while.

Even Consul Bafur and Mai Huatuo, who came from afar, also understood this custom of the Chinese, and as diplomats, they were always willing to abide by it, but they did not expect Zhao Dagui, a moth with a Chinese skin, to make a foreign appearance.

Everyone saw that Zhao Dagui was indeed a moth that came out without paying attention for a while, and the corners of many people's mouths had begun to twitch, struggling to hide the desire to laugh.